


Orange

by SonOfAWinchester_67



Series: Sabriel and Destiel [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Angel Wings, Caring Dean Winchester, Caring Sam Winchester, Destiel - Freeform, Glasses-Wearing Castiel (Supernatural), Helpful Dean Winchester, Helpful Sam Winchester, Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, Sad Castiel, Whump, Wingfic, Wings, colourblind, colourblindcastiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 21:04:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17815496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonOfAWinchester_67/pseuds/SonOfAWinchester_67
Summary: Prompt- Angels have weird sense of sight and can't see colours. Sam and Dean help out.





	Orange

**Author's Note:**

> Oneshot where sam and dean endeavour to introduce cas to something new and unseen to him before. Colour. DISCLAIMER I know next to nothing about colour blindness so please don’t hold it against me! Also if you want to see what I mean by black and white inverse get a photo, turn in black and white in your phone settings, then edit it to be “inverse colours” and that’s what I’m going for.
> 
> Also I think this is set between season 6 and 7

"What does orange look like?"

As soon as cas spoke the words, they hung in the air like a thick cloud, one the Winchesters, try as they might, could not seem to see through.

"What kind of a questions that? It looks like orange!" Dean replied wearily. It had been a long day, and while cas was great, he had a knack of asking tiring questions. They had only been driving back from the warehouse for 10 minutes and there was still a long way to go. Dean could already tell this was going to be a tense journey. "You seen an orange before? Well it’s called that for a reason! "

"Dean, hang on a sec- Cas? What do you mean by that?" 

"Well I don't know dean," cas' face rearranging from naive curiosity to childlike grumpiness and completely ignoring Sam’s question. "I was only asking."

"Well don't ask stupid questions then"

"It's not a stupid question-" cas' voice probably would've risen to the point dogs on the other side of the state could've heard him, if he hadn't been cut off. 

"Woah, woah, alright guys? Dean, jeez, touchy much? Cas, what do you mean "what does orange look like?""

While dean muttered obscenities behind the wheel, cas began to cool off. The Angel was always fairly chilled out, but if you came near to insulting him, it became clear he was simply very collected. Taking a deep breath, he began again.

"I meant, what does orange look like? Is it a warm colour, does it remind you of any tastes, is it connected to any emotions? And No dean, I haven't seen it."

The brothers stared at Cas blankly for a moment, before Sam reminded Dean to keep his eyes on the road. Cas got no answers to his query, only a halting question from Sam. 

"Why not?"

Cas sighed deeply. This was indeed going to be a long drive.

~~•~~  
In death, the physical is transformed into the metaphysical. Solids become pearlescent lights that flicker and dissipate. When life begins, it does so through bursts of rainbow flecks, every colour of the spectrum, settling into a plainer, calmer existence. Everyone sees colour in some form, for it is the very stuff of being.

But for those who were never born? Who will never die? For those who represent neither life nor death. Indeed those made of glowing grace, slotted into their chosen vessels, will only ever know one colour.

That colour is different for every angel, and is dependent on the unique colour of their wings. An incredibly superficial thing to base sight off, but it was supposed to ensure each angel could tell any imposters apart. Every single angel had a unique shade of wing, and could only see that colour themselves. Therefore, if another "Angel" appeared, and they had the same colour wing, the imposter could be disposed off immediately.

A harsh system, but nothing compared to the politics of heaven.

This is what Castiel had spent the last hour trying to explain to the boys, with little success.

"Look at it like this- our wings are like our faces, if someone has the same one as you, you're the first person aware of it. It's like staring into a mirror. Especially as it's so rare. In heaven, you can see one colour only, your wing colour. If someone else has your wing colour, that's a problem. But seeing as no one knows what colour is what, no one risks trying to fake an identity."

"Cas I'm still not getting this," commenting dean, stretching out on the couch, "why would it be a problem if someone had the same colour wings as you? We've got doppelgängers here, we just roll with it!"

"Ok well now imagine that that doppelgänger has every scar, blemish and imperfection that you have. In fact, they are a perfect copy of you. That's what wing colours are like."

Sam whistled through his teeth slowly. "That's kinda weird. It's like a password then. Only you know it, and no one can have the same?"  
"Exactly. Thank you Sam. I'm glad someone gets it" Cas shot a glare towards dean. Sam continued-

"So- you can only see-what colour can you see?"

Cas' face burned. "Sam it is not proper etiquette to ask the colour of someone's wings-"  
"Oh suck it up your majesty and tell him."  
Cas shrugged awkwardly. "I didn't get so lucky. I can see blackish-Browns sometimes flecks of dark blue. A bit like you might see on a crow, or a dark horse. Some angels can see turquoise, or lavender, or green... Gabriel gets to see gold! I often find myself wondering what that might be like.."

The boys watched Cas as he trailed off, with a look of tranquility in his eyes, and, just for a faint moment, a little sadness seemed to pass them. The brothers traded looks. They had to do something about this.  
~~•~~  
"What is red to you?"  
Dean paused for a moment before deciding on an adequate answer.  
"Red is anger. Except its also the feeling of love, and adrenaline- so I guess red is passion? It's... It's sort of that feeling you get when you're riled up for something."

"Then what is orange? What the difference? Is ther-"  
"Nope my turn. What do you see if you don't see colour?"

Now Cas halted. He had heard from some angels who had spent time on earth it was referred to as inverse, and in black and white, but he wasn't sure entirely what that suggested to dean. He knew human colourblindness didn’t work the same way as angels sight. Did inverse even exist to the human eye? 

"It's a bit like... Uh. I don't really know," He started falteringly. How could he explain it simply?  
"I think I can help," Sams voice came from behind his laptop. He explained how he had been researching how to describe colours when he came across an article discussing colour blindness in the human world. "Most people have trouble differentiating between certain colours, brown and green for example. However, some have more trouble with colours being faded."Cas," he walked to the printer, before spinning round and handing Castiel the printouts. “Can you tell me what number this is?”

Seems easy enough.  
A few moments passed.

"Well?”

"Uh. No. Is- is there a number?"

Dean jaw fell slack as he gaped as the Angel. "Dude, there’s literally the number 7 right there, written in red! How do you not see this??" Pointing to it to emphasise his point”

"Why is the number 7 associated with passion?”

"Cas that's not the point! The point is you're missing out big time!"

They paused. There was a moments silence before it was broken by Sam.  
"Well the Ishihara test works, but I'm gonna go find some more descriptions of colour Cas. I have a feeling this isn't going to be anything like human colour blindness"  
"And I'm gonna go find a way for you to see it. Can't let you be part of the gang without knowing what flannel looks like eh?"

~~•~~  
Castiel stared up at the grey sky with blissful naivety while Dean watched from the window. 

"Dude this is just sad now. He's been looking at those clouds for the past 45 minutes, I'm pretty certain he thinks they're purple or something."  
Sam stretched out as much as he could in the small space they had. He had been hunched over his laptop for what felt like an age now, and he just couldn't find anything useful.  
"It would be fine if he was human Dean, but I can't find anything to do with angels or the supernatural connecting to colourblindness. I suppose we could try contacting another angel-"  
"Oh yeah like who? Gabe? Balthazar? Hey maybe even Zachariah- oh wait they're all dead!"

"Oorrr you could try contacting a demon." A voice purred behind them. The brothers immediately found themselves face to face with Crowleys smug grin.

"What do you want jackass?" Asked dean brusquely. "And whatever it is no. Nothing's worth selling a soul for."

"Oh please" the demon drawled "I'm not here to make a deal. Because you already know the information. Dean darling you remember my pup?"

Next to dean a small puff of air wafted around his hand, smelling suspiciously of dogs breath.  
"Not funny Crowley, I haven't got the glasses anymore, I can't see him." He said snatching his hand away anxiously.

The Scot turned Brit feigned shock and confusion. "Oh! The glasses of course I’d almost forgotten. What did they do again? Aid the wearer see supernatural forces? And without them it was impossible...  
Mmmm ingenious invention on my part, did you know they work both ways?"

The boys gaped at him for a moment. 

"Your Angel friend needs a prescription. Ciao."  
At with that he was gone.

~~•~~  
They'd been planning this moment for weeks. Every step had been completed down to the smallest details. The cheap glasses they had bought at a convenience store had been burned with holy fire and been sitting in the glove box of the impala for near a month now. Dean and Sam had avoided the topic of colour religiously, pretending not to notice Cas's wistful glances at the sky and corn fields they passed. They had paid to have a photo printed of the 3 of them, and had given it to him to look after. The only thing that they were waiting for was the right time to present Cas's gift.

The black Chevy passed down a road overlooking rolling fields below them. The meadows of wild flowers stretched out till the horizon, only occasionally being broken by a line of hedge, or a cluster of trees. Behind them city lights shone and the roar of traffic was loud. 

Trading looks the brothers knew this was their chance. Dean slowly pulled to the side of the highway and once halted, the three men stepped out the car.

After a moments quiet of leaning against the bonnet, and casting quizzical looks towards them Cas began "why exactly have we stopped?"

Dean took this as his cue. Sam and him had rehearsed this a hundred times and he knew his role inside out. Keep him talking while Sam grabbed the glasses.  
"Just admiring the scenery Cas. Don't often see a sky like this!"

Indeed, the sky was aflame with sunset.  
"Oh."  
"I mean, have you ever seen such a sunset? It's incredible! An with this scenery. Crazy!"  
Anyone within a mile radius could feel the awkwardness rising in Cas.  
"Dean I-"  
" and the flowers! There's so many, I didn't even think they bloomed this time of year!"  
"Dean- I- I can't see them remember?"

Dean fought to keep the excitement out his voice now, Cas was answering exactly how they wanted.  
"Oh shit yeah! I forgot! Hey, why don't you close your eyes, I'll describe it to you"  
To anyone else this would have seemed suspicious, but it never appeared to dawn on Cas.  
"Dean that's really not necessary-"  
"Oh go on! Live a little? No homo I swear."

After a tense pause Cas slowly closed his eyes.

 

~~•~~  
As Cas relaxed he began.  
"Alright... Well the entire scene is just breathtaking. The sky is everything angry, forgiving, and passionate at the same time, but fades into a soothing blanket. A warm sort of colour, dark, mysterious, but like a old friend..."  
As dean spoke Sam began placing the glasses over Cas's nose, hooking them round his ears. He jumped and recoiled, starting to reopen his eyes.  
"Woah feathers.." Dean hushed, gently brushing his eyelids down behind the lenses pretending not noticing the blush creeping across his own cheeks. "Trust me?"

"Of course dean but-"  
"Ok then. The fields are that feeling when you touch land after flight, after swimming. It's being grounded, safe, home. And the flowers, they're like little smatterings of kisses across a loved ones face..."

Dean trailed off waiting for Cas to open his eyes as Sam settled next to him. He watched as the Angel took a blissful sigh. "Thank you Dean that was-"  
His eyes opened. His breath hitched. Silence. 

Dean suppressed the urge to ask if it worked, his question answered by every shine of Cas's irises. They danced across the field of light pinks and pastel yellows, to the swarthy browns and deep greens of the oak tree near which they had parked, then roving upwards at the night sky, in all its midnight blue glory, when he suddenly scrambled in his pockets for the photo. He seemed to study it intently before finally raising his head to meet deans hopeful expression.

His hands reached out involuntarily, the picture fluttering to the ground, one hand making its way across his cheeks, softly probing under his eyes, while the other ran through his mousey hair.  
"Green. Your eyes are green?"  
His voice was barely a whisper, and as Dean took Cas's hands, he choked out  
"Yeah. And this is orange."  
The two turned towards the flaming sunset, reflecting all three of their eyes.  
"This is orange, Cas."


End file.
